Judge Dredd 3D. My verdict.

I've just realised that my previous post on the Judge Dredd subject was written before I had seen the film. Following the visit to Amsterdam and IBC I selfishly took some time to go and see the movie, which I had not previously realised was a cert 18, sorry Will.

The film was obviously deemed popular as the cinema I booked into, Vue in Portsmouth, was running the screenings ten minutes apart. I arrived early, as I normally like to do and breezed into the screen, only to face the movie in all its glory. I left and sat outside until the room emptied.

I must say, as anyone who read my previous post would understand, that my expectations were high. I knew that Carlos Ezquerra, one of the original artists, had been involved in the production and as such I was hopeful that the general feel and atmosphere of Mega City One would be captured in this new movie. This, at least, exceeded my expectations. Depending on the 2000AD writer and artist the Mega cities of the future differed from cartoon comedy all the way to dark Orwellian prophetic musings. Thankfully the movie opted for the latter displaying a futuristic vision of social depravity hovering at the edge of chaos with the Judges the caretakers of order and, dare I say it, law.

The character of Dredd was portrayed in an absolutely masterful fashion by Karl Urban. Eschewing the egoistical approach of his predecessor in the hugely forgetful first attempt at bringing the 2000AD hero to the big screen, Karl maintained the faceless aspect of the law. I am a massive fan of 2000Ad in general and Dredd in particular and I was not disappointed in the slightest. The story was simple with complex aspects. The understated response of Dredd to a hugely important event is typical of the comic character and was maintained throughout the story.

Judge Anderson could have been a difficult character to weave into the, hopefully, popular franchise. The irreverent nature of the blonde, large breasted psychic genius that is Cassandra Anderson was cleverly adapted and well portrayed by Olivia Thirlman.

I can honestly say that the ghost of the Stallone debacle has finally been exorcised. Karl Urban IS Dredd and Olivia Thirlman IS Judge Anderson.

Long live the Dredd franchise!!